Shuddering, lurching, uneven acceleration, and loss of power: these represent a few of the many problems that have made the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus vehicles the focus of multiple lawsuits and a criminal probe. Ford officials marketed the automatic transmissions on these vehicles as efficient as manual transmissions with the ease of use of automatic transmissions. Employees who labored on these products, however, allege an atmosphere of secrecy, deception, and corruption.

Rather than take responsibility for these potentially life-endangering errors, Ford leadership has laid blame on the lawyers spearheading these cases. The thousands of consumers who bought the vehicles and paid untold sums on repairs might beg to differ, as seemingly would engineers and other employees who actually designed and built these vehicles. Engineers reportedly cited serious transmission issues before the cars were even manufactured, dating back prior to 2010. One whistleblower employee, speaking anonymously for fear of losing employment, even allegedly told friends, “”I wouldn’t put my kid in one of those cars.”

When Ford officials were confronted with these issues by concerned employees, they seemingly only had one general response: “don’t be naysayers.” Allegedly, company heads even vetoed a plan to take these cars off the market for fear of profit loss. Now, consumers are paying the price, with over a million of these cars still currently registered in the United States.

The Department of Justice is investigating Ford’s culpability. Sign this petition to urge the nation’s foremost vehicle safety administration to seek answers and hold responsible parties accountable in this critical matter of consumer protection.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Mr. Danielson,

“My hands are dirty; I feel horrible.” These words of remorse allegedly come from an employee who worked on the DPS6 transmissions found in Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus vehicles. This employee has demonstrated far more awareness and concern than his or her bosses allegedly ever showed. In fact, despite rapidly accumulating lawsuits and consumer complaints, Ford leadership still denies any culpability for the plentiful problems reportedly caused by these faulty transmissions.

Employees allege Ford’s knowledge of these problems was widespread and ultimately ignored. Preliminary plans to abandon these transmissions were even seemingly curtailed. The reported issues identified with these transmissions—including faulty acceleration and power loss—could have and may have endangered drivers. If these allegations are true, then Ford put saved money ahead of saved lives.

A Department of Justice fraud investigation may help uncover the extent of Ford leadership’s knowledge of the transmission problems. Please fully investigate this serious case and honor your mission to “save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes.”